Mud-ring.



W. L. BEAN.

MUD RING.

APPLICATION FILED APR.23. 1915. I,L5,55. Patented 001.12191 O C-*O-O-mQ-.Ql-QZQTLCO-"-CU oooooooooooooooooooo.. oooooooooo j /foooooooooooooooo /ooooooooooooooool l .JOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOI MUD-RING.

Specicaton of Letters Patent.

Patented Get. f2, fgf.

Application mea April a3, 1915. serial no. 23,278.

To all whom t may concern.'

Be it known that I, WILLIAM L. BEAN', a

citizen of the United States, and a resident of Chicago,in lthe county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented a certain' new and useful Improvement in Mud-Rings, of which the following is a description, reference being had to the accompanying drawing, which forms a part of my specification.

My invention relates to a mud-ring more especially adapted for use with locomotive fire-boxes, and has for its object the provision of a mud-ring having attenuated portions or surfaces which adapt it to be secured to the walls of they lire-box and to the outside or wrapper-sheet without the use of rivets, thereby obviating the need for rivetholes being drilled therein and therefore providing a mud-ring having greater strength than the mudrings as heretofore employed, so that my improved construction is adapted to act as a beam.

Another object of my invention. ,is to provide a mud-ring provided with a channel extending throughout the upper surface thereof and constituting the bottom of the respective water-legs or spaces, adapted for the collection of mud or sediment contained in the watenspa-ce of the lire-box; the channel allows the sediment to collect where it will be out of contact with the finished plates which corrode more quickly; finished plates being employed to constitute the comparatively thin walls of the nre-box, the wrapper-sheet, as well as the throat-sheet and back-head. By providing a mud-ring adapted to collect the mud and sediment in the manner specified, the life of the lire-box is enhanced, and the diiculties, heretofore encountered as a result of corrosion in the lower part'of the water-legs or water-spaces ofthe lire-box due to the accumulation of mud and sediment are greatly reduced.

Another object of my invention is to provide a mud-ring whereby the difficulties heretofore encountered, due to leaking and wearing away of the sheets, will be practically eliminated and the frequent repair and renewal of certain portions of the side sheets therefor obviated.

A further object of my invention is to provide a mud-ring, the cost whereof, in manufacture, installation and maintenance, will bematerially less than that of construc- 5 tions heretofore employed.

ln the drawing Figure 1 'is-a side elevation of a locomotive type of fire-box proyided with my improved mud-ring- Fig. 2 1s atop plan view of the mud-ring. Fig. 3 is a detail cross-sectional view illustrating more clearly the construction of the mudring and method of securing the same to the walls of the fire-box and outside or wrappersheet.

My invention, as exemplified in the drawlng, comprises a mud-ring preferably made of cast steel, provided with the upwardly presented legs or portions 5 and 6. By providing the mudring with the extended sides 5 and 6, a channel 7 is formed, which, when themud-ring is secured in place, constitutes the lower extended portion of the water-legs intermediate of the walls of the fire-box and the wrapper-sheet, the backhead and the throat-sheet.

In the preferred construction of my invention, the mud-ring is also provided with the depending portion or projection 8,which not only stidens or increases the strength of the mud-ring, but also provides' an anchor for the expansion pad between the backhead and the engine-frame-as well as lfor the furnace supports or other parts of the locomotive. The mud-ring, in its preferred form as disclosed in the drawing, presents a construction substantially Y -shape in crosssection; the depending portion or leg 8 being preferably provided throughout the entire mud-ring as shown.

Mud-rings, as heretofore employed, have usually been made solid, of rectangular cross-section,. and subsequently provided 'with holes drilled to receive rivets of comparatively large diameter for vthe purpose of securing the mud-ring to the lire-box, and to the outside sheets. The process of drilling the mud-ring'is not only an expensive one, but also materially aects the strength of the mud-ring. As several rows ofv rivets `are usually provided, generally arranged in patch-bolts or plugs., extending only part way through the mud-ring, intermediate of the rivets which extend entirely therethrough, hasfbeen found necessary. 'With my improved construction, these diliiculties are entirely obviated, because the mud-ring is not intendedl to be secured to the Walls of the fire-box andto the wrapper-sheet by rivets, but is adapted to be secured to the sheet metal walls by means of welding, autogenously or otherwise.

In order to provide a good welding surface, I prefer to bevel the upperl surfaces or ends of the legs 5 and 6, as more clearly shown in Fig. 8, where the leg 5, which is`- .As the wrapper-sheet is usually made of greater thickness than the lire-box side walls, the leg 6 is, therefore, made slightly heavier in cross-section than the leg 5; the legs 5 and 6, in the preferred form, are preferably made to taper slightly, that is, the legs are made of gradually decreasing thickness, so as to somewhat approximate the thickness of the sheets to which they are to be secured.

1n the preferred construction, the legs 5 and 6 are madeof a length that will produce a channel 7 of a depth substantially equal to its width, thus providing a construction which may be cast without difficulty.

In applying my invention, as shown in the drawing, the leg or portion 6 is rst welded on its inner side to the outside or wrapper-sheet 11, thereby producing the weld or seam 12, see Fig. 3, after which the seam or weld may be completed from the outside, as indicated at 13 in Fig. 3.

vAfter the inner seam 12 has been completed, it is evident that 'the seam or weld, shown at 14:, inl Fig. 3, may be made, whereby the mud-ring is secured to the lire-box lsheet 15.

The length of the upwardly presented portions or legs 5 and are preferably such as to permit a short portion of the fire-box sheets 15 and the wrapper-sheets 11, to -extend beneath the first or lowermos't horizontal row of stay-bolts, usually employed, as shown at 16, whereby the proper spaced relation of the sheets or walls is maintained` The depending portion or leg 8 of the transverse or end sections of the mud-ring is provided withholes, as shown in Fig. 3,

insalate both ends of the mud-ring are preferably made of increased depth, as shown in Fig. 1. As the mud and sediment 'will collectin ,the channel 7 formed in the mud-ring by reason of the extended or attenuated portions 5 and 6, I prefer to provide the corners of the mud-ring with clean-out ports 181 The ports 18 are preferably arranged,-

as shown, so that the longitudinal and transverse sections or portions of the mud-ring may be readily cleaned through the same opening. ln order that the ports may be suitably closed, the mud-.ring is provided with the bosses 19, surrounding the ports, so as to receive suitable threaded plugs, not shown. .I

It is evident that with my improved construction, the use of rivets for securing the mud-ring to the lire-box and the outside or wrapper-sheet is not only obviated, but the difliculties encountered in driving the rivets,-ordinarily about six inches in length,- and in providing the proper pitch in the Wrapper-sheet, throat-sheetv and back-head, are entirely eliminated. Furthermore, the use of patch bolts or plugs, adjacent the corners, is also done away with, and, therefore, the source ofmore or less leaking practically eliminated, as Well as the necessity of frequent calking.

My improved mud-ring is preferably made of cast steel, which, owing to its coating of scale, does not corrode as readily as finished plate, although it may be found prafls'ticable in some instances to use forged stee While l have shown and described what l believe to be the simplest and best form of my invention; it will be understood, however, that the sectional contour of the mudring may be altered, and certain other modiications be made without departing from the spirit of my invention, and l do not wish to be understood, therefore, as limiting myself to the exact construction shown and described.

lVhat I claim is z- 1. 1n combination with a locomotive rebox and the outside or wrapper sheet, a mud-ring comprising a comparatively thick body, constituting a beam portion, having upwardly presented integral sides to provlde'a channel, the upper ends of the sides bein'g of a thickness substantially equal to the thickness of the wrapper-sheet and the fire-box walls and welded thereto.

2. A. mud-ring for locomotive boilers, comprisingy a beam forming body-portion inmate tapering in a downwardly presented ange or leg and in parallel upwardly presented sides, the height of thesides being substantially equal to the distance between the sides so as to provide a channel correspondingin,

width with that of the water-legs of the boiler, the upper edges of the sides being beveled to provide enlarged welding surfaces. v

3. A mud-ring for the water-legs of locomotive boilers, composed of a beam forming body-portion having upwardly extending sides of different thicknesses to correspond substantially to the thicknesses of the respective walls of the water-legs of the boiler and arranged to be welded thereto.

4. A mud-ring for locomotive-boilers, formed of a single beam forming portion, the upper part whereof is substantially U- shape in cross-section so as to provide a channel corresponding in width with the side water-spaces or legs of the boiler, with the sides of the mud-ring being of thicknesses corresponding substantially to the Ithicknesses of the respective side Walls of said Water-spaces or legs and provided with enlarged Welding surfaces.

5. A mud-ring for locomotive boilers, formed of a single, beam forming portion provided with a channel substantially of equal height and width, the side walls of the channel being of unequal thickness to correspond with the respective walls of the water-legs or spaces of the boiler.

6. A mud-ring for locomotive boilers, formed of a single, imperforate body-portion, provided with a channel whose side walls are of thicknesses to correspond with the respective walls of the water-legs of the boiler to which they are adapted to be welded, the corners of the mud-ring being provided with clean-out ports.

WILLIAM L. BEAN.

Witnesses:

GEORGE HEIDMAN, F. A. FLORELL. 

